Although it can be used in many applications, the disclosure herein and the problems underlying it are explained in greater detail in relation to passenger aircraft. However, the methods and devices described can likewise be used in different vehicles and in all sectors of the transport industry, e.g. for road vehicles, for rail vehicles, for aircraft or for watercraft.
In modern aircraft construction, structural components of aircraft are increasingly being manufactured from fiber composite materials. A fiber composite component of this kind can be produced, for example, by passing a multiplicity of reinforcing fibers, e.g. carbon fibers and/or glass fibers, through individual layers composed of a matrix material, e.g. a plastic and/or a metal, and then building up the layers and imparting to them a desired shape. To ensure the structural integrity of these components, both during production and in subsequent use, the components can be fitted with a multiplicity of sensors which detect relevant structural parameters, such as mechanical stress, temperature etc. In order to connect these sensors electrically and in terms of data engineering and to control them, a multiplicity of electric conductors and electronic components, even integrated circuits, can be installed on and/or in the fiber composite components. For example, integrated circuits can be applied to fiber composite materials with the aid of printing methods. In order to prevent unwanted mutual interference by electromagnetic fields, electronic elements of this kind can be integrated into shielding housings. Specifically in aircraft construction, however, it is desirable to keep the installation effort and, especially the weight, as low as possible.
The publications by Leijonmarck et al., “Solid polymer electrolyte-coated carbon fibers for structural and novel micro batteries,” Composites Science and Technology, 89, 149-157, 2013 and Asp et al., “REALISATION OF STRUCTURAL BATTERY COMPOSITE MATERIALS,” 20th International Conference on Composite Materials, Copenhagen, Jul. 19-24, 2015 describe the use of coated carbon fibers in structural batteries, i.e. batteries which are integrated into a fiber composite structure, e.g. that of a vehicle. The carbon fibers have a solid polymer electrolyte coating with a thickness of several hundred nanometres, which is applied by an electrochemical bath (a typical diameter of carbon fibers is about 6 to 7 micrometres). Among the effects of this coating is that of electric installation, wherein the fiber diameter is increased by only about one micrometre by the coating.